Without You

{For the Appleshine Mum, Loony, may she rest in peace.} The House Appleshine is rocked when they find out that their mother, Luna, has fallen ill. With their lives changing left and right, they've begun to have strains on the family ties as they struggle to cope with their mother's illness.

9. Chapter Nine

Girlie woke up the next morning, dazed and dizzy. She half expected that she had cried herself out (resulting in the horrible feeling that had come with her waking), but because of her luck, she happened to glance at the David Tennant signed Sonic Screwdriver on her bedside table, the one her Mum had given her. She burst into tears immediately.

Prez came into the room. Girlie began wondering if she had slept in the hallway, waiting for one of the members of their family to awake and remember the situation. Prez sat on the end of the bed. Girlie pulled herself from the entanglement of her blankets and crawled next to her older sister.

Prez pulled her into her lap, stroking her hair, and making comforting noises while Girlie sobbed. She rocked her in her arms slightly, which made Girlie feel slightly sick, but she didn't object.

"Mummy's coming back, right?"

"Of course," Prez said, although there was a hint of doubt in her voice.

Prez kept quite for a moment before whispering, "Do you want to wake up the others and have a Disney movie marathon?"

"Will there be Tangled?"

"Why wouldn't there be?"

"Wreck-It Ralph?"

"Do you even know me?" Prez laughed. "Of course."

"Okay."

~~~

Within a few hours, the family had already watched Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, Lilo and Stitch, and they were in the middle of The Emeror's New Groove, when Ink interrupted, asking, "Girlie, think you can get some more popcorn?"

Girlie, whose mind was elsewhere, didn't hear. "Huh?"

"You know, popcorn."

Girlie, seeing the opportunity to make a reference, which was a thing she loved to do, remembered the "Kuzco's Poison" bit that had been on only minutes earlier. "Oh. The popcorn. The popcorn for Ink. The popcorn intended to be eaten by Ink. Ink's popcorn... That popcorn?"

"Yes, that popcorn."

"Right," Girlie replied, holding out the "I" in "Right." She got up, heading towards the kitchen. She smiled, forgetting for a moment that in some hospital, her Mum was struggling for her life. For this one time, Girlie decided to act like the seven-year-old girl she was instead of a mature teen. Perhaps, this was the time to act her age and throw her maturity out the window and act her age.